Friends take memorial ride for late motorcyclist

Saturday

Jul 1, 2017 at 3:46 PMJul 1, 2017 at 3:46 PM

Eric Wildstein Gazette staff TheGazetteEric

They took their fallen friend for one last ride.

Leslie “Todd” Farkas always stood out around his “Thirteen Misfits” motorcycle club for his infectious personality, disc jockey skills, kindness toward others and “Big Orange,” his metallic orange sport bike—a customized Suzuki GSX-R750 complete with orange underglow lights, nitrous, and other bells and whistles he added recently. Even with one of the club’s most powerful motorcycles, he would always serve as the road guard on club rides, making sure everyone stayed safe along the way.

“He would stay in the back with us and make sure that everybody got to the destination OK,” said Kesha Lay, a founder of the Thirteen Misfits. “He was like a guardian to everybody.”

Farkas, who lived in Vale with his mother, was killed the morning of June 11 in a wreck at the intersection of Linwood Road and Chapel Grove Road near Crowders Mountain. He had just left Lay’s home and it was a day after the two friends had participated in a fundraiser ride in support of a young Gaston County girl with cystic fibrosis.

On Saturday, Farkas’ Thirteen Misfits family and dozens of other friends revved their engines and took a memorial ride through Gaston in his memory. Taking off from the Broncos 3N1 Club in Gastonia, they rode past the scene of the wreck, where a memorial to Farkas stands, and made stops at some of Farkas’ favorite locales.

Wearing orange—Farkas’ favorite color—in his memory, members of the group took turns wearing a clear backpack containing Farkas’ ashes placed inside an orange nitrous tank from his motorcycle.

“Everything he owned was orange, so we all just kind of wanted to be a little closer to him today,” said Kenny Buchanan, a founding member of the Thirteen Misfits.

The ride commenced at a public memorial service for Farkas held at the Concerned Bikers Association of North Carolina’s Gaston County chapter on Stowe Road.

Friends also sold memorial T-shirts, patches, photo stickers and more to raise money for Farkas’ mother, to whom he was the soul caregiver. The group has held several fundraisers since his death to help pay for his final preparations and to help move his mother into a nursing home, both of which have been done thanks to the generosity of donations.

“To us, he was a family member so there wasn’t any question as to what do we do, it’s ‘this is our task, we have to do this,”’ said Lay. “This is the big final event that we’re going to raise funds and show our support for him and then give everything at the end to his mom, because she’ll need on-going support.”

Misti Lashon Hill, 42, of Gastonia, was charged this week with misdemeanor death by vehicle in Farkas’ death. She was released from Gaston County Jail after posting $2,500 bond on Wednesday.

Police say Hill was driving her Lexus SUV and made a left onto Chapel Grove Road, and collided with Farkas after veering into his lane of traffic. Authorities believe Hill was traveling around 45 mph in a 35-mph zone when she struck Farkas, who had slowed to 5 mph, according to police. Farkas died at the scene.

Farkas was born in New Jersey in 1973. He graduated in 1992 from West Lincoln Senior High School in Lincoln County.

His influence remains strong with those who knew him.

His passion for sport bikes was a bit of an anomaly for the Thirteen Misfits, which was founded in March 2015 as a philanthropic motorcycle club by a group of friends who typically rode cruiser-style bikes. But Farkas made an immediate impact when he joined the club shortly after its inaugural ride.

“He brought us close to the sport bike network and people we’d never fathom we’d be hanging out with,” said Buchanan.

“But he found the good in everybody and his smile was so infectious that you couldn’t help but like the guy and everybody was just his friends and we’re all coming together trying to honor that spirit one more time and make more friends today on the ride I hope.”

You can reach Eric Wildstein at 704-869-1828 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteEric.

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